Italians unveil robotic fish to protect Venice

(ANSA) - Rome, October 1 - An Italian team on Thursday presented a new system of submarine drones that act like robotic fish and that they hope to use to monitor water depths and protect Venice from high tides.
    The system of drones, called "Venus Swarm", has been developed by Enea, the Italian national institute for new technologies, and Rome's University of Tor Vergata, and was presented at the Venice Expo on Thursday.
    It is composed of "several cooperative and coordinated vehicles and is the result of years of laboratory studies of robotics," said Vincenzo Nanni from Enea.
    He said the line of research focused on imitating aggregation patterns in animals and their group intelligence.
    The robotic fish, which can be employed in swarms of dozens of drones, can be used for example to monitor oil platforms, pipelines and ports, but also to manage migratory flows, protect marine biodiversity and assess pollution. "Each robot is made up of a submarine wireless system that uses sound and light to communicate. The optical system makes it possible to transmit a large quantity of information but only in very clean waters and at short distances. The sound system has a lower performance but can be used in dirty waters," said Nanni.